Monthly Archives: September 2020

What’s More Risky, Going to a Bar or Opening the Mail?

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By now you probably have a good idea of which activities pose a greater risk catching COVID-19, so this might have been easy.

Supermarket and retail.

The Texas Medical Association COVID-19 Task Force and Committee on Infectious Diseases have created a chart that ranks activities on their risk level for COVID-19. The levels are based on input from the physician members of the task force and the committee, who worked from the assumption that – no matter the activity – participants were taking as many safety precautions as they can.

And remember that no matter what we do, it’s best if we stay home if possible, wear a mask and maintain at least 6 feet of distance when we have to go out, and above all practice safe hand hygiene.

Remember the board game Risk, where the goal was basically to take over the world?

Well, let’s play Risk COVID-19, in which you try to guess which activities put people more at risk for contracting the coronavirus that causes the disease.

  1. Spending an hour at a playground or grocery shopping?
  2. Going to a beach or going camping?
  3. Working a week in an office building or staying two nights in a hotel?
  4. Going to a hair salon/barbershop or visiting a library/museum?
  5. Going to a bar or sitting in a doctor’s waiting room?

Download the chart in pdf form here:

SpaceX Starlink Mission

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SpaceX is targeting Thursday, September 3 at 8:46 a.m. EDT, 12:46 UTC, for launch of its twelfth Starlink mission, which will launch 60 Starlink satellites to orbit. Falcon 9 will lift off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A backup opportunity is available on Friday, September 4 at 8:24 a.m. EDT, 12:24 UTC.

Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported launch of the GPS III Space Vehicle 03 mission in June 2020. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Tom Seaver, Pitcher Who Led ‘Miracle Mets’ to Glory, Dies at 75

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Tom Seaver, one of baseball’s greatest right-handed power pitchers, a Hall of Famer who won 311 games for four major league teams, most notably the Mets, whom he led from last place to a surprise world championship in his first three seasons, died on Monday. He was 75.

Tom Seaver, who had 3,640 strikeouts in his 20 big-league seasons, is sixth on the career list.

The cause was complications of Lewy body dementia and Covid-19, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, give or take a few, with a thick waist and tree-trunk legs that helped generate the velocity on his fastball and hard slider and the spin on his curveball, Seaver at work was a picture of kinetic grace. He had a smooth windup, a leg kick with his left knee raised high, and a stride so long after pushing off the mound that his right knee often grazed the dirt.

With precise control, he had swing-and-miss stuff. He struck out more than 200 batters in 10 different seasons, a National League record, and on April 22, 1970, facing the San Diego Padres, he struck out a record 10 batters in a row to end the game. His total of 3,640 strikeouts in his 20 big-league seasons is sixth on the career list.

This Day in History

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In 1939, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland.

Adolf Hitler (right) prepares to fly to the Polish front, 1939. Hugo Jaeger—The LIFE Picture Collection

In 1976, America’s Viking 2 lander touched down on Mars to take the planet’s first close-up, color photos.

This photo from NASA’s Viking 2 lander was almost certainly transferred from magnetic reels to a finished photo using a Model 505 data reconstruction camera. (Photo: nasa.gov)

In 1978, Pope John Paul II was installed as the 264th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In this Oct. 22, 1978 file photo, Pope John Paul II blesses the faithful in St. Peter’s Square from a Vatican City balcony after he was named Pontiff.  (AP Photo, File)

In 1995, the online auction site eBay was founded in San Jose,California.

After spending Labor Day weekend at home writing code on his personal computer, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar launches AuctionWeb, a site “dedicated to bringing together buyers and sellers in an honest and open marketplace.”

Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019

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H.R. 3884 – This bill decriminalizes marijuana.

Specifically, it removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.

The bill also makes other changes, including the following:

  • replaces statutory references to marijuana and marijuana with cannabis,
  • requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees,
  • establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs,
  • imposes a 5% tax on cannabis products and requires revenues to be deposited into the trust fund,
  • makes Small Business Administration loans and services available to entities that are cannabis-related legitimate businesses or service providers,
  • prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions,
  • prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of a cannabis-related event (e.g., conduct or a conviction), and
  • establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses.
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The Unlikely Kennedy Who Ended the Kennedy Dynasty

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Rep. Joe Kennedy III speaks outside his campaign headquarters in Watertown, Mass., after conceding defeat to Sen. Ed Markey in the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary. | AP Photo/Charles Krupa

For most of the 60-year history of the Kennedy dynasty, it’s been easier to imagine its last act as coming in a burst of triumph, a spasm of violence or a dream-shall-never-die promise of enduring hope. On Tuesday, however, what might be the final note of this political symphony was written not in glory or tragedy, but in numbers, the sad prose of politics.

Sen. Ed Markey 55.6 percent, U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III 44.4 percent.

In a Democratic primary. In Massachusetts.

The 74-year-old Markey, who was first elected to the House in 1972, was supposed to be the type of proud, uncharismatic incumbent whom Kennedys routinely dispatch to retirement homes or ambassadorships. Joe Kennedy’s grandfather, Robert, famously ended the 18-year political career of New York Sen. Kenneth Keating, a 64-year-old Rockefeller Republican, without even moving to the state until shortly before the election. In a 1962 debate, Massachusetts Attorney General Edward J. “Eddie” McCormack Jr. told political neophyte Edward Moore Kennedy that if his name had been Edward Moore, his Senate candidacy “would be a joke.” The joke, of course, was on Eddie McCormack, who lost the Democratic primary, 69-30.

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Mike’s Sloppy Joe’s

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Homemade sloppy joes are incredibly easy to make and come together in one skillet in about 20 minutes or so.  Browned beef is mixed with onion and green pepper and simmered in a sweetened tomato sauce.  The secret is in finding the right seasoning for the sauce!

I grew up eating sloppy joes. My mother was a school teacher, so mid week dinners were quick and simple. And while I’m at it, sloppy joes in our house were actually browned ground beef smothered in Manwich sauce. Not very creative, but at the time it was a staple that I loved as a kid.

What is the difference between Manwich and Sloppy Joe? Technically Manwich is a pre-made sauce that’s used to make sloppy joes.  I am not sure exactly what’s in it, and have never tried it myself, so I can’t say that my recipe tastes similar or not.  Manwich is marketed as a easy way to make sloppy joes… but in reality, homemade sloppy joes are just as easy to make!

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Amazon wins FAA approval for Prime Air drone delivery fleet

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Amazon.com is testing out the viability of drone delivery for small packages.

Amazon received federal approval to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday, a milestone that allows the company to expand unmanned package delivery.

The approval will give Amazon broad privileges to “safely and efficiently deliver packages to customers,” the agency said. The certification comes under Part 135 of FAA regulations, which gives Amazon the ability to carry property on small drones “beyond the visual line of sight” of the operator.

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